


Not Your Typical Saturday

by sneakronicity



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Breakfast Club AU, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2014-05-20
Packaged: 2018-01-21 16:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1557512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sneakronicity/pseuds/sneakronicity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Avengers Breakfast Club AU. High school is hard, but detention is harder, especially when the group gathered doesn't exactly get along. Personalities clash, tempers flare, but they might just learn a thing or two before the day is over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is it, my longest fic yet and, and I'm so excited to start posting it! Of course I couldn't have done it without the encouragement of so many awesome people on tumblr and at the WIP Big Bang LJ comm, but especially to my darling StormXPadme for being endlessly excited and amazing, and to my beautiful beta shenshen77 for being wonderful. Also, this fic will be graced with some artwork by MusicalLuna who I am thrilled to collaborate with!

“Alright, children, make yourselves comfortable, because for the next seven hours on this beautiful Saturday, your asses are gonna be stuck in the very seats you’re sitting in right now,” Principal Nick Fury greeted the seven students gathered in front of him.

“This must count as some form of cruelty toward minors,” Tony Stark, son of the town’s richest man and most famous entrepreneur said, slouching down in his chair.  “I bet you get off on it.”

“You think I want to be here?  There are a hundred other things I would rather be doing with my Saturday than babysitting you punks,” Fury replied, his left eye twitching until it was almost closed as he glared back at Tony.

“Oh, well, hey!” Clint Barton piped up.  Sitting up straighter in contrast to his fellow classmate’s slouch, he gave the principal the most charming smile he could muster.  “You don’t wanna be here,” he pointed to Fury, “We don’t wanna be here,” he gestured around to the others, “So how about we all just say we were here and walk away?  Everybody wins!”

Fury gave Clint a strange look as if trying to recall something before shaking his head.  “Shut up, Barton.”  That was all the acknowledgement he would get.  “You all know why you’re here.  At the front of the room I have some paper and pens, so for the rest of the day I want you to think about what you did to deserve detention and why you did it, and write a four hundred word essay about it.”

“How are we supposed to get the writing utensils with our _asses stuck to our seats_?” Tony asked, throwing Fury’s word’s back at him in a mocking tone.

“Don’t get smart with me, Stark,” Fury warned.

“Highly improbable, I am a genius after all, and sometimes these things can’t be helped,” Tony said, his tone matter-of-fact.  “You’re presenting us with an impossible dilemma.  You’re setting us up to fail from the start.”

“Five hundred words, and I will pass out the papers,” Fury conceded none too happily.

“How very kind of you, but what if we have to use the bathroom?  Are we supposed to do that in our seats too?” Tony pressed despite the groans of his peers.

“Six hundred words.  Don’t test my patience,” the principal growled and the other students tried to protest.

“It’s a valid question. And what if our legs cramp or-“

“Seven hundred words!”

“For Christ’s sake, Tony, drop it!” a voice suddenly bellowed from the back.  It wasn’t the cry that silenced the room, though, but the fact that it came from the normally mild mannered Bruce Banner.  Bruce was a quiet kid, extremely smart, and one who pretty much did all he could to be invisible.  To hear him raise his voice was enough to shock everyone to silence, though Principal Fury recovered quickly and took advantage of the situation.

“I’ll mostly be working in my office, but I will check in periodically, so don’t even think about trying anything, because I’ll know,” he said as he walked forward and started handing out the papers.  “If you leave this room, I will know.  If you cause a disturbance, I will know.  If you do _anything_ but sit in those seats and work on those essays, _I will know._ ”  Tony opened his mouth to make a smartass comment but Fury only pointed at him with a warning look and it was enough to make him bite it back.  

“Proper grammar, proper spelling, and don’t even think about rushing through this with some half - assed sob story that only someone’s bleeding heart grandmother would believe.”  Turning away, Fury walked slowly back up to the front of the room where he planned to keep vigil for the first hour, before he stopped with his back still to them. “I don’t hear any writing going on,” he said, causing the sound of scrambling as they all picked up pens and shuffled papers.

“Well, this is going to be fun,” Tony muttered under his breath.


	2. Part 1

For the first hour Principal Fury sat at the librarian’s desk, occasionally peering over the book he was reading to throw warning looks at anyone who didn’t at least appear to be thinking intently about their essay.The seven students were spread out over three small tables.At the first table were the aforementioned Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.They appeared to be polar opposites: where Bruce was quiet and unobtrusive, Tony was loud and abrasive, but they actually got along quite well due to their shared interests in scientific experimentation and invention.

At the centre table were three students: Virginia Potts, Steve Rogers and Donald Blake.   Virginia, known as Pepper to pretty much everyone, was a straight A student, president of the student council, and in the running to be valedictorian her senior year.  She was involved in more social clubs than anyone else in the school and dreamt of one day owning her own company.

Steve Rogers was the captain of the football team.  Tall, blond, and blue-eyed, he was the epitome of the all-American athlete and a football scholarship was pretty much a given for his future.  He was popular, but unlike many stereotypical ‘elite’ students he was always kind and polite to everyone and even stood up for anyone he saw being bullied.

Donald Blake had earned the nickname Thor at a young age from his fellow athletes and the name had stuck all through his adolescence so that now only his family seemed to refer to him by his given name.  Thor was a gentle giant and many people seemed to think he was a bit slow, but the more accurate description was that he thought with his heart over his head, something that people took advantage of, particularly his younger brother. 

Finally, at the third table, were Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton.  Natasha was a bit of a mystery, a popular cheerleader turned outcast by some strange choice of her own.  Most people didn't know what to make of her, many were intimidated by her, but she was certainly a hot topic of conversation for much longer than the majority of the student body could claim, first as the pretty foreign exchange student called Natalia, then as one of the most popular kids in school, and now as a basket case.  What other reason could there be to give up everything most kids only dreamed of and choose to be mediocre?

Rounding out our group was Clint, captain of the archery club and member of the gymnastics team where he had met and befriended Natasha.  A little bit jock, a little bit geek, Clint was hard to categorize and he seemed to get along quite well being pretty laid back and inconspicuous.  

The two of them were currently sitting close together, their heads bowed over a single piece of paper that they both appeared to be writing on.  “I want individual essays from _everyone_ ,” Principal Fury piped up from the front causing Clint to jump and pull another sheet over in front of him.  Every thirty seconds or so, though, he would reach over and make a mark on Natasha’s paper.

As for the rest of them, Pepper was writing carefully yet steadily, Bruce was doing more crossing out than writing, Thor had his chin propped on his hand and was concentrating on staying awake, Steve was sketching something in the margins of his paper, and Tony lounged back in his chair, arms crossed and glaring challengingly at Fury.

Twenty minutes later the older man got to his feet.  “Remember, if you even leave those seats I will know,” he reiterated, giving them each a pointed look in turn before leaving the room.  If he was going to be stuck there all day then he was going to get some real work done instead of watching their every moves.  If they acted out then they would just earn themselves further detention, and next time he wouldn’t let Coulson beg out of watching them, no matter whose birthday it was.

“So what should we try first?  A window?  The air vents?” Tony broke the silence, looking around at the others.  “The dynamic duo over there are small and bendy, I bet they could squeeze through.”

“We’re on the second floor and those windows only open three inches,” Bruce pointed out.

“Fine, air vents then.  What do you say, Bonnie and Clyde?”

“How about we stuff you in the vent and bolt it shut?” Natasha suggested sweetly, though the glint in her eye was everything but.

“Touchy,” Tony said, glaring at Clint when he snickered.  “So, what, everyone is content to just sit here and do these stupid essays?  Could you be any more boring?”

“We’re in a library.  Once the essays are done we can just read,” Pepper sniffed indignantly.

“Oh, wow, you really know how to live it up!”

“We’re in detention, not on a party cruise, and some of us don’t even deserve to be here, so excuse me if I would rather just get it over with without further incident and get on with the rest of my weekend.”  Feeling the matter laid to rest Pepper ducked her head and concentrated furiously on her paper.

“Right,” Tony said, drawing the word out to show what he thought of Pepper’s opinion, which clearly wasn’t much.  “I guess that leaves the Beefcake Brothers.  I’m sure _you_ two know how to party, being popular jocks and all.”

“I think Pepper has the right idea,” Steve replied, earning a groan from Tony and a smile from Pepper.

“Oh, come on!” Tony all but exploded in exasperation.  “You lot have got to be the lamest group of people I’ve ever met!  What are you even in here for, Captain?  Did you fumble the wrong balls?” 

“I do not think that is a punishable offense,” Thor cut in, trying to help.

“Big words, Gigantor, you better take it easy.  Would hate for you to use your entire vocabulary in one shot.”  At Thor’s confused expression Tony scoffed.  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Drop it, Stark!” Steve pounded his fist on the table and jumped to his feet.

“Ooh, are you going to make me?” Tony replied petulantly, standing toe to toe with the bigger man.

“Don’t test me.”

“What, scared I might fight back?”

“No, I just don’t want another detention for knocking you out.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“What the hell is going on here?!” Fury’s voice suddenly boomed from the front of the room causing everyone to turn to him in surprise.  They had all been so distracted by the fight that nobody had even noticed his return.

“We were just-” Steve started to explain, but was promptly cut off.

“You know what?  I don’t even want to know, ‘cause you know what you’re _not_ doing?  You’re _not_ sitting in your seats and writing your essays like I told you to do,” Fury continued, approaching the tables.  Steve and Tony hastily returned to their chairs.  

“Not all of us were-“

“Thank you, Miss Potts, I can see that, I’m not blind.  Some of you can actually follow…” he trailed off when he looked at the paper he had picked up from in front of Natasha.  A grid of dots had been drawn on the page and some of them were connected by lines in a seemingly haphazard pattern.  There were a few places where full boxes had been made, and inside each box was written a single letter, either a C or an N.  Not knowing what to make of this he looked at Natasha, his expression clearly asking for an explanation.

“It’s a visual representation of the chaos in my mind regarding my feelings over what I did, and how I can order that chaos and repent,” she said without hesitation earning an impressed look from Clint that he quickly covered, and various other reactions, mostly surprise and confusion, from the rest of the group gathered.  By the time Fury looked at Clint the boy had adopted a solemn expression.  He shook his head.

“Words, Miss Romanoff, that’s what essays consist of, not lines and squares.  This isn’t art class.”  Taking the paper he handed her another before retreating back to the front of the room and taking up his post again.  “Now get writing.”

 


	3. Part 2

The silence seemed to stretch on for hours with everyone either brooding, concentrating or, as in Clint’s case, sleeping. Principal Fury sat at the front of the room, diligently keeping an eye on his class while catching up on his reading until the clock struck noon.

“The letter that was sent home with each of you stated very clearly that lunch would not be provided, so I hope you all brought your own,” he said, standing from his chair and surveying those gathered. Steve, Thor, Pepper and Bruce all nodded, and Clint looked a little worried before Natasha nudged him and smiled, presumably having packed enough for both of them. Of course it was Tony, though, that spoke up.

“Actually…”

“Why am I not surprised…” Fury sighed, shaking his head. “Well, lucky for you, Mr. Stark, I brought a few extra sandwiches just in case.” With a triumphant grin he tossed a paper bag at Tony who caught it on instinct.

“Oh. Great,” was the muttered reply.

“You get an hour for lunch, so make use of it and get up and stretch a little, but nobody is to leave this room, so if you need the washroom speak now or hold it until after lunch.”

There were a few takers, but unfortunately for them the washrooms were directly across from the library so there was no escaping Fury’s watchful eye. He stood sentry in the library doorway where he could block any escape from within and prevent anyone from ‘getting lost’ on their way back from the washroom. Five minutes later they were all gathered at their tables again and he left them alone, locking the door behind him.

Not a moment later Tony was on his feet and heading toward it.

“What are you doing?” Pepper asked, clearly alarmed.

“I’m going to find some real food,” he said, crouching down at the door to inspect the locking mechanism.

“You can’t, he’ll catch you!” she protested.

“Wow, Pep, I didn’t know you cared,” he replied in a clearly mocking tone.

“Hardly, but if you get in trouble I don’t want you dragging the rest of us down with you. That is what you do, isn’t it?” There was no mistaking that insinuation, and it was clear that things were about to get pretty ugly again.

“Okay, okay, hold up,” Clint cut in before it could turn into another shouting match. “Look, as much as I hate to agree with the egomaniac over there, I think we could all use a break.” He paused a moment, and was encouraged when nobody jumped in right away to object, even if Pepper was looking at him like he’d just betrayed her. He gave her his best puppy dog look back. “How about we go raid the cafeteria, shoot a few hoops to let off some steam, and we can be back here before Fury finishes his dessert.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea…” Steve said, though his tone hinted that he was at least considering it. When Tony opened his mouth to reply Natasha sent him a death glare that shut him up quick, allowing Clint to continue to work the charm.

“Maybe not, but isn’t it better than staying in here, yelling at each other?” Clint said with an easy smile. “Besides, there’s seven of us. We can take turns playing lookout, and at any hint that Fury is on his way to check on us, there’s enough exits to the gym that we should be able to find a route back here that avoids him completely.”

Steve still looked unsure and Pepper wanted to argue just for spite, but ultimately they all wanted out of the room, even if it was only for a few minutes, so after just a few more mild protests and some more convincing words they reached a consensus.

“But how are we meant to leave? He locked the door when he left,” Thor pointed out.

“Watch and be amazed,” Clint replied, making a sweeping gesture with his arm as Natasha pushed to the head of the crowd. Crouching down in front of the door, nobody could see what she was doing or what tools she was using, but it was only seconds later that the latch clicked and she pushed the door open.

Even Tony had to be impressed by that.

They all filtered out into the hallway, and as Steve passed her he gave Natasha an unreadable look, somewhere between disapproving and hurt, that caused her to frown. Clint brought up the rear, touching her elbow lightly and offering a soft smile which she accepted gratefully as they closed the door silently behind them and followed the rest of the group.

They all moved cautiously but quickly through the hallways, making sure to steer clear of the office block where Fury was undoubtedly eating his lunch. Nobody spoke again until they were safely inside the cafeteria.

“So, who wants to fire up the grill?” Tony asked, but quickly held up his hands when he was treated with many disapproving looks. “It was a joke. Chill.”

All the students that had their lunches had brought them with, but while Steve, Pepper and Bruce didn’t partake in stealing anything from behind the lunch counter Thor figured an apple or two that would only go bad surely wouldn’t be missed, while Clint and Natasha procured a few chocolate bars. Tony found a slightly more appetizing sandwich in the fridge than the one Fury had given him, along with some chips and various snacks for later.

“I’m surprised it’s you in here instead of your brother,” Tony remarked to Thor once they were all seated around the same table and tucking into their lunches. “Isn’t he supposed to be the mischief maker while you’re the golden boy?”

Thor chewed slowly for a moment, his face darkening. His younger brother had been nicknamed Loki, a fact that the boy had hated at first as even his identity wasn't his own, but he had eventually taken to the name, causing mischief wherever he went. “My brother is troubled, but it is not of his own doing.”

“If you say so…” Tony trailed off, clearly having another opinion.

“What are you implying?” Thor’s voice rose slightly. Setting down his sandwich he fixed Tony with a rather impressive glare that most people would have shrunk from. Unfortunately Tony Stark wasn’t most people.

“Just that it was all rather convenient, the fight breaking out right when you happened to be nearby, and Vice Principal Hill showing up when she did.”

For a brief moment Thor looked stricken, clearly never having considered the possibility that there could be more to the incident than how it looked on the surface. The problem was that he hadn’t just happened by the fight. He had been meeting Loki in that particular location, but when he’d gotten there he’d seen his brother being attacked so of course he had stepped in to break up the fight, but had ended up causing a little more damage to the assailants than intended. Hill arriving when she did had seemed like just bad timing.

Noting the look on Thor’s face, and the anger that was slowly bubbling up to replace it, Clint stuffed the rest of his own sandwich – or the extra one Natasha had brought for him, rather – into his mouth and clapped his hands. “Alright, enough wasting time. Let’s finish the food and go work off some of this… uh, fat.” Pointing out the tension between the gathered students probably wouldn’t help anyone, although insinuating that any of the gathered group was fat didn’t earn him any points either.

There were some grumblings around the table but everyone did eat a little faster and, thankfully, in silence except for the occasional ribbing of the slow pokes to hurry up. When they were done they made sure to clean up and remove any traces that they had been there at all before heading off to the gymnasium.

Flipping on the lights, Clint and Natasha went to the storage closet to get a basketball while the others just wandered about.

“It’s strange being here when it’s so quiet,” Bruce remarked, removing his glasses and setting them on the edge of the retracted bleachers. He definitely preferred it to the noisy gym glasses where he got teased and ridiculed.

“Guess we’ll have to make some noise then, huh?” Clint replied, spinning the basketball on one finger as he rejoined the group. Catching the look Pepper sent him he shrunk a little. “Okay, maybe not too much noise.”

“I think I’ll keep look out,” she said, crossing back to linger at the door.

“Suit yourself,” Tony said with a shrug. Glancing around at the others his eyes finally settled on Clint. “I’ll take the Golden God and the Black Cat, you can have Einstein and Captain Perfect. Sound good? Good.”

He didn’t leave time to protest even if there was any, so the rest just accepted it and took their positions. Clint started off with Natasha covering him, and he could tell instantly that he was in trouble; she was practically eye-fucking him right there and making sure to lean forward a little more than necessary to give him an excellent view of her cleavage.

“You’re good at this,” she practically purred. “I’m pretty good at handling balls too. You should let me show you sometime. You won’t be disappointed.”

It was enough to make Clint falter, and that was all the opening Natasha needed. Stealing the ball from him she turned and ran, looking intent to sink it herself. Steve moved to intercept, leaving Thor open, so without any indication she passed to her teammate who sunk it cleanly from where he stood. Sauntering back to Clint, she grinned smugly at him.

“That was dirty, Romanoff,” he said, pointing an accusatory finger at her and hoping she didn’t see how much she really had affected him. She was his best friend, but over time he had fallen so hard for her it was getting increasingly difficult to hide it. Maybe if she gave him any indication that she might be open to more than friendship he could get up the courage to tell her, but she didn’t seem interested, not in him or even dating in general. She had wanted to focus on herself, on figuring out who she was, after dumping her last boyfriend and Clint had respected that, but how long did self-discovery take?

“Boys are so easy,” she gloated, positioning herself in front of him again and clearly getting ready to up her game.

“Hey Cap!” Clint called out before she could even get going, “We’re switching it up!” Turning to find Natasha glaring at him he grinned back. “If your tricks work on him, then nobody’s safe.”

“Challenge accepted,” she said as Clint and Steve switched places.

The game continued for a while, and as to be expected there was much trash talking, mostly between Clint and Natasha, and Tony and, well, everyone. The teams were quite even and the score was tied when Pepper suddenly turned from her post at the door with a quiet yet urgent hiss of “Fury’s coming!” and everyone froze.

“Scatter!” Clint called out, recovering first. Natasha still held the ball and made a beeline for the storage closet to hide it, Steve right behind her. Thor grabbed Clint and practically carried him from the room by the south door while the other three took the west exit, killing the lights on their way out.

Replacing the ball on the rack, before Natasha could turn and make a run for it Steve had followed her in and shut the door behind them. It seemed like only seconds later when they heard the distinct click of Fury’s shoes on the floor, growing closer with each step. He stopped just outside the door and they held their breath, but when he tried the handle he found the door locked. Clearly satisfied, they listened to his steps retreating to the south and only let out their breaths when the sound was a mere memory.

“That was close,” Steve said, moving to cautiously open the door, but when he turned the handle nothing happened. Turning to look at Natasha with wide eyes he found her looking at him expectantly. “It won’t open. It must have locked itself.”

Pushing past him to inspect the handle and finding no keyhole on their side, she pulled out her phone instead. “I’ll text Clint and tell him where we are.”

“Can he, uh, do what you do?” Steve asked uncomfortably, gesturing toward the door.

Regarding him a moment, she slowly nodded, the barest hint of a smirk on her lips. “Who do you think I learned it from?”

Steve’s only answer was a frown.


	4. Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this chapter we have our first sketch by the wonderful MusicalLuna! Isn't it perfection? Leave some love for her too and I'll make sure she sees it!

Tony, Pepper and Bruce were the first ones back to the library, and once inside they took a moment to catch their collective breaths.  

“Come on,” Tony panted.  “You have to admit that was exhilarating.  Sure beats sitting in this stuffy place all day.”

“Do you think the others will make it?” Bruce asked, ignoring Tony’s statement and looking at Pepper hopefully.

“Better them than us,” Tony replied with a shrug.

“You would say that,” Pepper responded.  “More like ‘better them than _you_ ’.”

“That too,” he was completely unapologetic and Pepper decided it was best to ignore him and just converse with Bruce.

“Fury will probably be moving in this direction soon.  We need to distract him somehow until the others can get here,” she said, raising her eyebrows at Bruce.  “Have any ideas?”

“If we were in the science lab instead of the library I could probably mix something up.  A strange smell, some smoke…”

“Except you blew up the lab,” Tony interrupted to point out.

“You are not helping.” Pepper gave him a warning look.

“Alright, fine, you want my help?” Tony said, raising his eyebrow. Receiving barely a nod in reply he continued.  “We hack into the school mainframe and start tampering with the alarms, set them off in another wing so he has to go investigate.”

“Using what?” Bruce asked.

“I can do it from my cell phone,” Tony replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“He might be able to trace it,” Bruce pointed out, “and besides, that would take a little more time than we have.”

“More time than we have?  Pfft, I can pull this off in twenty seconds flat.”

“The systems in this school are old, they’re not going to be something that you can just-“

“Oh ye of little faith. I can-“

“Enough!” Pepper cut in loudly, shutting them both up.  Pulling out her cell phone she scrolled through her contact list before dialling a number.

“What are you doing?” Tony asked, furrowing his brow and trying to get a glimpse of her phone.

“I’m calling Fury,” she stated simply causing both guys to gawk and sputter.

“What?!”

“I’m calling his office.  If he’s anywhere near his office he should hear it,” she explained.  They could all hear it ringing.  Once.  Twice.  Three times.

Bruce looked more nervous by the second.  “And if he’s not?” he asked.

“We start trying the labs,” Pepper said simply.

“Why would he care?” It was Tony’s turn to question.

“Who would be calling the school on a Saturday?” She said, raising her eyebrows at the two boys who looked at each other and shrugged.  “Let’s hope that he’s curious enough to try to answer at least one.  It probably won’t last long, but hopefully it will buy the others a few extra minutes.”

Tony actually looked a little impressed for a moment.  “Not bad, Potts.  Simple yet possibly effective.”

“Not every solution has to be high tech and complicated,” she said with a satisfied smile, just this side of smug.  It certainly wasn’t every day Tony Stark said something nice, and anything even resembling a compliment had to be very rare indeed.  

For a long moment he watched her as she hung up and tried another number in her contacts.  His eyes slowly narrowed.  “You have every phone number in this school programmed into your phone, don’t you?”

“Yes, and almost every student’s.  Now either start dialling or shut up,” she brushed him off efficiently, earning a surprised snicker from Bruce which he quickly tried to hide with a cough as he removed his own phone from his pocket to help.

Surprisingly, Tony actually listened.

 

 


	5. Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Featuring more wonderful artwork from MusicalLuna!

After leaving the gymnasium, Thor and Clint ran the length of the locker lined hallway until they found a women’s washroom to duck into.

“Stand up on the toilet!” Clint hissed.  Hiding in one of the stalls he lowered the lid on the toilet and crouched on it so his feet couldn’t be seen under the door nor his head over the top.  He heard Thor struggling a bit to do the same in the stall next to him.  Thor had a lot more bulk to try to conceal.

For a few minutes they cowered in silence until a loud buzzing shattered it causing Clint to jump and scramble in his pockets for his cell phone. Reading the text from Natasha he just barely held back a laugh at her predicament, but was glad he had when a moment later they heard the approaching clicking of Fury’s shoes.

_Be there soon_ Clint texted quickly before turning off the vibrate function on his phone just as the door creaked open.  The two boys held their breath so Fury’s breathing was the only sound in the otherwise silent room.  It wasn’t long before the door swung shut again and his footsteps retreated down the hall.  

“That was close,” Clint breathed, standing up on the toilet and peeking over the top of the stalls.  The sight of Thor crouched down so uncomfortably in the adjacent stall had him slapping a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter.  “Am I gonna need the jaws of life to get you outta there?”

“Thank you, but I believe I can manage,” Thor replied, groaning and untangling himself.  While he stood and stretched , Clint sent Natasha another text.   _Bored yet with the squeaky clean Captain?_

“Natasha and Steve managed to get themselves locked in the equipment closet in the gym.  We gotta go back and let them out,” Clint informed Thor, hopping down from the toilet seat and opening the stall door.

“Do you think it is safe to go now?” Thor replied.

“Sure, Fury went off in the other direction.  We just gotta be cautious.”  Creeping over to the door, Clint checked his phone again, surprised to see no new messages from Natasha.  Fury had already checked in on them, she should be just waiting for rescue, and she obviously had service.  How busy could she possibly be?

_Don’t tell me even you can’t resist his All American charms lol._ He sent the second message before tucking his phone away again and peering out the door.  The hallway outside was empty and quiet.  “Ready?”

“Yes. Let us go be heroes,” Thor replied with a grin, but there was a darkness in his eyes that hadn’t quite faded since the cafeteria, one that betrayed the smile on his lips.

The pair crept out into the hall and started back toward the gymnasium, and while they should have probably stayed quiet and listened, Clint had never been good at that.

“Forget about what Tony said.  He was just trying to get a rise out of you,” he broke the silence, though making sure to keep his voice low.  

“I know he was, yet I cannot forget it,” Thor said with a heavy sigh.  “I love my brother, and would have trusted him with my life, but lately…”  He trailed off.

“Hey, I get that, I’ve got a brother too.  Barney’s older than me, but I’d do anything to protect him,” Clint said, unconsciously rubbing at the scrape on his jaw.  “But sometimes I… sometimes I don’t think he’d do the same for me, you know?” 

Thor frowned at this statement and the two fell silent, both lost in their own thoughts.  Could that be the same for him? Thor loved his brother with all of his heart, and that hadn’t changed since finding out that Loki was adopted, but Loki _had_ changed.  There had always been a sort of jealousy and competitiveness to his nature, but it had gotten much worse over the past year.  Could it have consumed him so much that he would orchestrate a trap meant to get Thor in trouble and sully his image?  Thor didn’t want to believe it, but he couldn’t quite brush it off either.  Now that the idea had been planted he could feel it growing, feeding on evidence and doubts.  He wished Tony hadn’t said anything at all. 

For Clint’s part, he tried to distract himself from thoughts of his home life by checking his phone again, but there was still no word from Natasha.  Could Fury have doubled back and caught her?  No, they would have heard him in the quiet halls. What could possibly be so distracting that she couldn’t write him back?  She and Steve didn’t even talk anymore, she should have been easily passing the time texting.  What could they be doing?

_You know I was just joking about that challenge, right?_ Clint tried again.  Natasha and Steve had been friends once, and she had dated his best friend for a while, but Clint had thought she was done with that stage in her life. Most of the girls in school would kill to be locked in a closet with the Captain of the football team, but Natasha wasn’t most girls... right?

But what if she wasn’t as different as he thought?  What if she hadn’t dropped the mask of popularity to find herself, but had only traded it for another?

Reaching the gymnasium, the pair made very certain that they were alone before slipping in and heading for the equipment closet.

 

 


	6. Part 5

“Fury is on the prowl, but Clint will be here to let us out as soon as he can,” Natasha said, lowering her phone to her lap and risking a quick glance at Steve.He merely nodded in reply and the two fell into an uncomfortable silence.She thought of filling the time by texting with Clint but she knew that if he was able to he would be sending her ridiculous messages to keep her entertained while she waited; the fact that his acknowledgement of her cry for help had been short and to the point told her that he was probably running or hiding himself.

“We used to be friends,” Steve suddenly spoke causing Natasha to raise her head quickly to look at him.  It was true, they had been, and yet today was the most time they had spent around each other in over a year.  

She watched him carefully a moment before replying.  “Yes, but then I broke up with your best friend,” she stated, continuing before Steve could cut in.  “It’s okay, I don’t blame you for picking sides.”

“It wasn’t just that,” Steve protested defensively, finally meeting her eyes.  “You changed, Natasha.  “You were the head cheerleader, you were popular.  Everyone admired you, all the girls in school wanted to _be_ you, and it was like overnight you decided you didn’t want that anymore.”

“That is _exactly_ it, Steve.  _I decided_ ,” Natasha replied a little harshly.  “Since I moved to America I did everything I could to fit in.  I dropped my accent, I changed my appearance, and I became who everyone wanted me to be... everyone but me.”  Breathing deeply she shook her head, taking a moment to centre herself again.  She couldn’t be angry with Steve for not understanding when she had never offered an explanation in the first place.  Maybe one was long overdue. “For a while I was okay with it,” she continued her voice softer now, “and I even started to believe the persona myself.  I think I was even happy for a while, but it wasn’t... it wasn’t _me_.  I grew tired of other people dictating my life and making my decisions for me.  I wanted to live my own life on my own terms, to become someone _I_ could be happy with.”

Again there was silence as Steve processed what she was telling him.  She had been the new girl so she had lied to fit in; it was hardly an unusual tale. And despite feeling hurt by her cutting him out of her life, he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty that he hadn’t noticed and had unknowingly encouraged her to be someone she wasn’t.

“You could have said something.  You could have told us,” he said eventually, his quiet tone matching hers.

“I know.  I don’t regret my decision but... I could have handled it better,” Natasha conceded.  “It was simply that... when I finally realized what I wanted, and what I _needed_ to do, I had to do it quickly. I couldn’t give anyone the opportunity to talk me out of it.”

“Like you let someone talk you into it?” Steve countered quickly, catching her completely by surprise.

“That isn’t fair,” she said, but she could tell by his eyes that he knew he had her.

“So you’re saying you came up with this all on your own?”  He knew the answer already but there was a part of him that was still hurt, that wanted someone else to blame since he was having a hard time blaming her anymore.

Natasha just glared at him, refusing to play his game until Steve shrank under her gaze and looked away.  They both knew who he was referring to and they both knew he was right.

Clint existed outside the boundaries various cliques set up.  He was athletic, but not into the sports that would make him one of the ‘jocks’; he enjoyed sci-fi and comic books, but his grades were never high enough to classify him as a ‘nerd’.  He walked the lines between established stereotypes and he was completely and unapologetically _himself_.  He and Natasha had been friendly since they had both joined the gymnastics team, and she had always found his frankness refreshing, even when she had to pretend not to.  Somehow he seemed to see through her facade, and maybe that was partially because she let him, and in the end it was he who had helped Natasha realize that she didn’t have to conform, that she could be who _she_ wanted to be.

They had been best friends ever since.

“For what it’s worth , I’m sorry,” Natasha eventually broke the silence again after it became clear that Steve was willing to drop the topic of Clint.  “To you, and Sharon, and especially James.  He had an idealistic view of me, of us, that I couldn’t live up to anymore.”

James was Steve’s best friend, and he had been absolutely devastated to lose Natasha, so it was easy to blame her, to blame Clint, for being the cause of so much hurt.  Things were never so cut and dry, though, Steve was quickly realizing.  

“How about now?” he asked slowly.  “You said you wanted to be someone _you_ were happy with.  So… are you happy, Natasha?”

She seriously considered the question.  She thought about how her life had been; all the friends, the wonderful boyfriend, the admiration, the parties, the notoriety; then she thought about how she was now, a relative outcast who was feared by many, involved in ballet instead of cheerleading, existing on the fringes instead of in the spotlight, able to think and say whatever she wanted, to talk to and befriend whomever she pleased.  The friends she had now she _knew_ were true friends, ones who cared about her and not her status, ones that knew _her_ and not the mask she portrayed.  She thought about Clint and how he had encouraged her to be herself and had supported her through her decision, coming out on the other side as the best friend she’d ever had.  Was she happy?

“Yes,” she said with a soft, honest smile.  “I’m happy.”

Despite everything it was hard to begrudge Natasha for what she had done when she was smiling at him like that, looking so completely content with her life now.  “I wish you would have told me sooner,” Steve replied, nodding slowly, “but I understand.”

Her smile brightened and she felt like a great weight had been lifted off of her, one she hadn’t even known she had been carrying.  “Thank you, Steve.”

“So... friends again?” he asked, offering a smile of his own even as hers fell.

“Social hierarchy-“ she started to argue but was swiftly cut off.

“You think I care about that?”  

She regarded him for a long moment before shaking her head.  “But what about James?”

“I’ll talk to him, I’m sure he’ll understand,” Steve said with full confidence.  “Any more excuses?”

There were a million reasons this wouldn’t work, and Natasha was pretty sure that today was an anomaly and everything would just go right back to how it had been on Monday when they all got back to regular classes, but for now?  She shook her head.

“Good,” he said, his smile returning before he leaned forward and pulled her into a hug.  Natasha wasn’t the most affectionate person, particularly when it came to showing it in public, but she allowed the contact and even returned it.  Of course that was the moment when the door finally opened to a smiling Thor and a not so happy looking Clint as he took in the scene before him.  

“My friends, we have come to save you!” Thor announced as the two broke apart. 

“We better get back to the library before Fury notices we’re missing,” Clint said, his tone even and matter-of-fact.  He turned and strode off almost immediately, Thor obliviously following after him.  Frowning at his back, Natasha collected her phone where she had left it almost forgotten beside her and trailed after them with Steve bringing up the rear.  Steve, who was not so oblivious; Steve who knew a thing or two about jealousy; Steve who had heard how genuinely happy Natasha was and who was finally putting the pieces together.  The rumour mill had already paired up Clint and Natasha long ago, though she seemed to maintain that they were just friends.  Seeing the looks they had just exchanged Steve had to wonder which was true.   


	7. Part 6

With Pepper, Tony and Bruce all working together they had enough phones in the school ringing that they couldn’t be ignored, but when Fury answered one they all froze.The plan had been to distract him and buy the others time, but they hadn’t thought ahead to what to do if he actually answered.It was Pepper who recovered first and, grabbing the phone from Bruce, she quickly disconnected.“Which room were you calling?”

“The, um… art, I think it was art,” he replied.

“He’s close.  The others better-“ but her words died on her lips when they heard a door close loudly nearby.

“We tried, we did our best, but they’re on their own!” Tony announced before reclaiming his seat at the table. 

Frowning, Pepper looked at Bruce but he shook his head.  “I don’t know what else we can do,” he said regretfully, but at that moment there was a sudden flurry of movement and footsteps as the four missing students burst through the library door.

“He’s right behind us!” Clint hissed, ushering everyone through before shutting the door as quickly yet quietly as possible.  They all scurried back to their seats, trying to look bored and relaxed, like they had been there the whole time.  Just before the door opened Pepper noticed Tony’s uneaten sandwich and snatched it up, stuffing it away in her purse before leaning over the table to appear to be focusing intently on her essay.

When Fury walked in he was scowling and slightly out of breath, his left eye twitching so, well, furiously that he had to close it to keep it under control.  “Phones,” he demanded, glaring at them with one eye.  “Whoever has them, hand them over right now.”

“But you specifically informed us not to bring them with us today,” Tony said, feigning innocence. 

“I also told you to bring a lunch, but you failed that.  Now hand it over.”

The four that hadn’t been involved with the calling had heard the phones ringing on their way back and were catching on to the ploy, but they still had the right amount of genuine confusion on their faces to make Fury doubt himself.  He was certain Stark had been involved, but one person couldn’t have pulled that off on his own.  Maybe Barton, but he looked so clueless it was hard to accuse him of anything.

Then Steve stood up.

“I’m sorry, sir, I know you implicitly said not to bring it, but I have to run a few errands when we’re done and then call my parents,” he said, removing his phone from his pocket and holding it out to Fury.  The rest of the group looked surprised and Fury hesitated before taking the phone.  He hadn’t for a moment suspected Rogers, but now he had to follow through.  Checking the call log he saw no activity since the day before.  He was clean.

“Thank you for your honesty, Rogers,” Fury said, handing it back.  “Turn it off until you’re dismissed.”  

The order was accepted and when everyone else remained completely silent he finally sighed and shook his head, massaging his temples slightly.  “Back to work.”

This time there was no argument from anyone and they at least appeared to be busy.  After Fury had settled down, though, and was back to reading his book, Natasha snuck a look at her own phone beneath the table, frowning when she saw the texts from Clint that had gone unanswered.

_I just got these now.  Worried about protecting my virtue, Barton?_ she sent back, and when Clint made no notice she kicked his chair to catch his attention.  Begrudgingly he looked over at her and when she indicated her phone and smiled he pulled his own out of his pocket for a look.  Reading the message he clenched his jaw and turned the phone off, stowing it away again and turning back to the elaborate doodle of lines covering his paper without so much as another look in Natasha’s direction.  

Feeling a stab of hurt at the brush off, she glanced over at Steve to find him watching the two of them.  Starting when she caught him looking, he tried to offer a sympathetic look, then a pointed one; surely she couldn’t be so completely oblivious?  Her confused expression said otherwise.  Looking down at his paper then up at Fury, Steve quickly scribbled a few words before handing the sheet to Natasha under the table.

_He’s jealous,_ it read.

Natasha’s brow furrowed as she read the note and she cast a quick glance at Clint before writing _Why would he be jealous?_ below Steve’s message and handing it back to him.  She was watching Fury so closely to ensure he didn’t notice the passing note that she didn’t see Clint take notice of it, didn’t see his nearly heartbroken expression before he propped his head on his arm, turned partially away from her, and went back to doodling aimlessly on his page.

_He misunderstood what he walked in on in the closet,_ Steve replied.  He figured that was enough, that she would put the rest together, but when she rolled her eyes he sighed audibly causing Fury to look up.

“Something wrong, Rogers?” the man asked.

“No, sir,” Steve responded as respectfully as ever.  Fury regarded him for a moment before returning to his book.  When Steve glanced at Natasha again she had another note waiting.

_It was just a hug. It’s not like I’ve never hugged him before._

Steve frowned at the response.  He had always found Natasha to be quite perceptive when she wanted to be, but maybe that didn’t extend to her own life.  She had clearly gotten better when it came to knowing who she was and wanted to be, but realising how others might see her was maybe still a problem.  

Or maybe she was just scared.  It was easier to accept that someone could love an image created for that very purpose than her true self. Time to be direct.  _He likes you as more than a friend.  If you think about it I’m sure you’ll see it’s obvious._

This time when Natasha read the note she didn’t reply.  Her brow furrowing, she looked over at Clint who was steadfastly ignoring her and everyone else.  He knew her; he was the one person who truly knew who she was.  He had seen her misery when no one else had, had seen past her carefully constructed mask.  He knew the awful person she had been before moving here, knew the things she had done to become popular, and if he could like her, if he could want to be more than friends knowing what he knew…

Slowly a small smile curved the corner of her lips up just slightly, an action only Steve noticed.  It brought a smile to his face as well.

For a long while they all sat in well behaved silence, and the next time Fury left the room it was without a word.  Would he be gone ten minutes?  An hour?  Was it just a bathroom break?  He gave no indication so a good five minutes passed before anyone spoke.  The fact that it was Bruce to break the silence surprised everyone.

“I left my glasses in the gym,” he said quietly.  This was not welcome news.

“He could be back any minute,” Pepper pointed out.  They had just made it back last time by the skin on their teeth, to tempt fate a second time… chances were they would get caught, no matter how quickly they moved.

“I know, but I can’t just leave them.  I’ll come up with some excuse if he catches me, it’ll be fine,” he replied, bolstering up his own courage, intending to do this on his own, but when he stood from the table so did Thor.  

“I will go with you,” Thor said, reaching over to clap a friendly hand on Bruce’s shoulder.  The smaller boy winced.

“No, it’s okay, I can-“

Thor quickly cut him off.  “I insist.  I can look out while you find them.”

“Thank you,” Bruce replied, genuinely touched.  After only another moment’s hesitation the two boys left, and the air between the remaining students was heavy and filled with tension.

“That was a good idea with the phones,” Steve finally said, the silence becoming too uncomfortable to stand.

Smiling brightly, Pepper replied, “It was simple enough, and it worked.”  She was clearly pleased with the praise but trying to be modest.  “And that was very quick thinking on your part, offering your phone as evidence that it wasn’t us calling.”

“I played a hunch,” he said, returning her smile.  “People are often so ingrained to mistrust that honesty throws them off.”

Clearly bored by Steve and Pepper patting each other on the backs, and jealous that Pepper had managed to outsmart him in this case, Tony let his eyes wander to the room’s other two occupants.

“What’s wrong, Barton?  You look like you lost your best friend,” he said, his tone clearly goading, just trying to get a rise out of the sullen boy.

“I’m just ready for this day to be over,” Clint replied flatly, struggling to not let the impact of the statement show and not daring to look at Natasha.  It was only partially true.  On one hand he wanted out of this prison atmosphere and away on his own to think for a while, but on the other he would have to go back home eventually, and that was never a pleasant thought.  Unconsciously he rubbed at the cut over his eyebrow.

“What happened to you anyway?  Romanoff get too rough with you last night?” Tony continued to needle him, ignoring the death glare Natasha sent his way.

Clint just barely kept his expression neutral. “I got in a fight.”

“You?” Tony scoffed.  Clint always seemed so laid back and passive, the idea of him getting into a fist fight was laughable.  “With whom?

“Some guy in gymnastics.”

“Who knew gymnastics could be so violent,” Tony mused, clicking his tongue and shaking his head.  By this time Steve and Pepper’s conversation had petered off and they were now watching on uncomfortably as well.  “Let me guess, that’s why you’re in here, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m in here,” Clint replied with that same flat tone, though his eyes had narrowed slightly and it was clear that Tony was getting to him… clear especially to Tony.

“Then where’s the other guy?” he asked, all innocence.

Clint brushed the question off with a shrug.  “He goes to another school.”

Tony chuckled.  “Well that’s convenient,” he said, obviously not believing the story.  “You know, as many bruises as you show up with on a daily basis, you must really piss off every other gymnast or archer in the state.”

“Drop it, Stark,” Natasha warned, her tone low and dangerous, promising a world of pain if he didn’t stop.  Tony was unfazed. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I hurt your boyfriend’s feelings?” he said in a very condescending tone.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said, but she had hesitated when she said it, her eyes flickering over to Clint.  His jaw clenched but he didn’t look at her.

“Alright, fine. Fuck buddies, then.”

“Tony, that’s enough. Leave them be,” Steve interrupted.  

Tony turned his full attention to Steve, glad for a new opponent to verbally spar with.  “Why do you care, Captain?  Didn’t she ditch you and your entire elite posse to hang out with the human punching bag over there?”

Had this been a few hours ago the words might have hurt, but since his talk with Natasha Steve understood why she’d done what she had, and he no longer blamed her.  “You don’t know anything about that,” he said, turning his eyes to Natasha who gave him the slightest smile in return.

“No?” Tony pressed on.  “So she didn’t kick your best friend to the curb like some-“

“What _is_ your problem?” Pepper suddenly cut in.  She had finally had enough of sitting idly by listening to Tony pick at every scar and weakness he could find in these people who had done nothing to deserve it.  “Do you simply _want_ everyone to hate you?  Because you’re off to a good start.”

“Settle down, princess,” Tony replied dismissively, like she wasn’t even worth his time.  Bad move.

“Princess?  Are you implying that _I_ am the over privileged one?” Pepper said, her tone incredulous.  “I have had to work hard for every A and every achievement I have received.  I didn’t get everything handed to me on a silver platter.”

Finally Tony’s harsh, uncaring veneer chipped, and his weakness was displayed for all to see.  Instead of trying to cover it up he panicked and his cool exterior shattered entirely.  “And you think that makes you better than me?  You think I _want_ to get everything just because of who I am?”

“You certainly make little effort to downplay the role,” she sniffed, tilting her chin up, “Always acting like _you’re_ better than everyone because your father is Howard Stark.  Well I’m sorry, but admiration and respect are things that need to be earned.”  

“Like you earned it, flitting around our home and fawning over everything he said?” Tony finally raised his voice as the meat of the tiff between he and Pepper finally came to light.  “All my life I’ve done everything I could to impress him but it’s never good enough.  He barely even looks at anything I do, yet you’re there for one summer and everything you do is amazing and perfect and-“

“Oh boo hoo, your daddy doesn’t pay attention to you and you think that’s enough reason to treat everyone like dirt?” Clint suddenly exploded, taking everyone by surprise.  They had all forgotten about him during the fight, and the whole while he had been listening and stewing and getting angrier and more upset with every word.  “I _wish_ my dad didn’t notice me.”  He was grinning at them all, but it was full of sadness and pain and silenced any interruptions.  “Next time yours gets drunk and beats the shit outta you for spilling a glass of milk then you can cry to me about how hard your life is.”

Pushing to his feet, Clint walked out of the room, and though nobody tried to stop him Natasha stood only a moment later, a look of pure fury on her face when she turned to address Tony.  “Are you happy now?” she snapped, glaring daggers at him.  He actually looked shocked and guilty.  “Do you know why he’s _really_  here?” she asked, raising her eyebrows at him but expecting no answer.  She pushed on before he could even try.  “Because he would rather spend the day here, in detention, than at home.”  And with that she stormed after Clint leaving a rather silent group behind.  

For a long time nobody looked at one another, just staring down at hands or papers.  “I didn’t know,” Tony said quietly after a moment, the silence weighing too heavily to let it reign, for in that silence he could practically feel the blame directed at and surrounding him.

“How could you?” Pepper asked, sounding tired.  “That would involve caring about, or even _noticing_ something to do with anyone but yourself.”  Tony opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off with a question.  “When was the last time you did something completely selfless for someone else?”

For once Tony didn’t have a smart quip to reply with; in fact, he had no reply at all.


	8. Part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More beautiful artwork from the tremendous MusicalLuna! Have I mentioned recently how awesome she is?

By the time Natasha stepped out into the hallway Clint was nowhere to be seen, but she heard a door close around the corner to her right and set off quickly in that direction.Peeking through the small windows in the classroom doors she found him in the second one, seated behind the teacher’s desk, and cautiously stepped into the room to join him.

“Hey,” she greeted, closing the door silently behind her.  When he repeated the single word back to her she noted how tired he sounded; tired and disappointed.  For a moment neither of them said anything, the obvious question of ‘are you okay?’ seeming stupid when he clearly wasn’t.  Crossing the room, Natasha leaned one hip against the side of the desk, one hand resting on the scarred surface.  “I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“Don’t be.  It’s not your fault he’s an asshole who doesn’t know when to shut up,” Clint replied.

“But I could have stopped him before he got that far, and I…” she took a breath and fixed her gaze on his face, wishing he would look at her.  “I told them why you’re here, that you don’t really have detention.”  That did the trick, but she was having a hard time reading him in the dim lighting.  “I just wanted to shut him up and make him feel even worse than you did.  I wanted him to feel guilty, and for everyone to blame him.  I wanted…”

Her words trailed off when Clint brushed his fingers over hers.  “Hey, it’s okay,” he said, offering the weakest of smiles.  “It doesn’t matter what they think, right?  It’s not like today is gonna change anything.  They didn’t bother with me before and they won’t after this either.”

The problem was that today _had_ changed something; she just had to find the right way to tell him.

When he retracted his hand again and settled back in his chair, Natasha rounded the corner of the desk and took a seat on top of it, directly in front of Clint.  Crossing her legs and settling her hands on either side of her, she pursed her lips and tried to decide how to broach the subject.

“I guess we should be getting back, huh?” he said before she could, but when he went to stand up she placed her foot on his thigh and shook her head.

“In a minute,” she said, watching as he looked down at her foot before slowly settling back in his chair, a wary expression on his face.  “What happened earlier, with Steve…”

“Tash, it’s fine, you don’t have to explain anything,” Clint interrupted.  “I mean, I practically threw you at him in that game, and it’s not like-“  His words were suddenly cut off when Natasha leaned forward and grabbed the arms of the wheeled chair he was sitting in and pulled it closer to her before pressing one finger to his lips.

“Just shut up a minute, would you?” she said, holding his surprised gaze until he gave a quick nod.  Dropping her hand she leaned back a little, keeping her eyes on him in case he tried to protest again.  “When I decided to change and leave that life behind I didn’t give Steve or any of them a real explanation.  What you walked in on was me finally telling him what I should have a year ago.  I told him I was happy now, and he’s happy for me.”

Clint looked skeptical, and maybe even a little frightened.  He wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, wasn’t sure he even wanted to know, but it was clear that it was important, and it was clear that things were already changing and he couldn’t turn them back now from the course they had started down.  “But the notes…”

“You saw that?” she asked, and at Clint’s slightly pained expression a gentle smile appeared on her lips.  “We were talking about you.”  She gave him a moment to let that sink in, and when he looked to be at a complete loss of how to respond she continued, her voice low and soft.  “Why didn’t you tell me?

He didn’t have to ask what, he could see it in her eyes; he knew her better than anyone, and he could see what she was referring to.  She knew; somehow she knew how he felt about her and it was finally time for the talk he had been alternately avoiding and trying to psyche himself up for for months.  

The first day of gymnastics class last year he had noticed her right away, but then who hadn’t?  Everyone knew who she was; knew who her friends were, who her boyfriend was.  Gymnastics had seemed like an odd choice for one of the most popular girls in school, but most people figured it was to help with her cheerleading, or that her parents had made her take it.  Even Clint hadn’t noticed at first that it was the first crack in her mask.  It wasn’t until he had caught her wistfully watching the ballet students practice that she really piqued his interest and he started to wonder.  

Their next class he watched her, how she pointed her toes when she stretched, the arch of her back, her graceful and fluid movements.  At the end of class he had approached her.  “You should try ballet, you’d be perfect for it,” he had said, noting the look of complete surprise on her face before she could hide it.  She had snarked back, told him ballet was for losers, but he hadn’t even flinched.  “So?” he had replied, completely unfazed.  “Maybe if you stopped caring about what people think and started doing what you want you’d be a lot happier.”

She had protested, saying she was happy; she had insulted him, saying he didn’t know anything about her.  He had simply shrugged and walked away, throwing one last parting shot over his shoulder.  “Do you?”

She had stewed over his words for a week, and he had caught her watching him often, studying him as if he was a puzzle she needed to solve.  When she finally talked to him again she had demanded to know why he had said what he had, why he thought her unhappy, and he had been completely frank with her in return, something most people weren’t.  Being popular, people told her what she wanted to hear, not what they really thought, and she had found the conversation as refreshing as it was enlightening.  

It wasn’t a one-time thing, and for weeks she shot down everything he said but still she continued their conversations, something that eventually became a daily occurrence, whether they shared a class or not.  Over time she had started to open up to him, and in turn he had let her into his personal life, had trusted her with the secrets he kept from everyone.  He always seemed so unapologetic about who he was, but he didn’t live without shame.  

Her family had gone back to Russia for the holidays, but not before Clint had given her a gift, making her promise not to open it until _her_ Christmas.  The time had been long but they had kept in touch, and by the time she returned for the new semester, a little later than most, she had made her decision, one that had been finally solidified by Clint’s gift: a pair of ballet slippers.

For the next year Natasha and Clint were practically inseparable, and he found himself amazed by her transformation, as well as proud and blessed to be part of the whole process.  Her determination was impressive and she was relentless in her quest to find herself, and the more ‘her’ she became the deeper Clint found himself falling for her.  He had never meant for it to happen, but by the time he had realised what he was feeling it was too late, so he had choked it down, hid it away, and had continued on as normal.  It hadn’t been too hard, really, when she seemed so uninterested in starting a romantic relationship with anyone, but now she knew and she was confronting him with it and he didn’t know what to say.

Looking down at his lap, Clint picked at a thread hanging from the hem of his shirt while he tried to find the right words.  After a long moment of excruciating silence he finally spoke, his voice quiet but sounding loud to his ears.   “You were trying to figure out who you were, and I didn’t want to get in the way.”

There were many other reasons, most of them to do with fear, but this was the one that had kept him quiet the longest.  She had spent so much time building her life around other people and pretending to be who they wanted her to be that he hadn’t wanted to risk doing that to her, hadn’t wanted her to inadvertently start changing for him.   

“You are never in the way,” she said.  When he didn’t look at her she uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, cupping his face in her hand and tilting his head up until he met her eyes.  “It’s because of you that I had the courage to be myself.  I owe y-“

“Don’t,” Clint cut her off quickly and resolutely.  “Don’t say you owe me.  I don’t want you to owe me anything.”

Tilting her head slightly to the side, her gaze never wavered.  “Then what _do_ you want?”

“You,” he said without hesitation, and in that moment he was certain he had never been so sure about anything in his life.  Was he too forward, though?  Would she think he saw her as an object?  It only took seconds for his confidence to wane.  Natasha was one of two people in his life that he couldn’t bear losing.  “I mean, uh…”  The look in her eyes was so intense, like she was looking into his very soul, and there was really no way to cover up his blunder so he spoke from the heart.  “I just want you to be happy.”

She believed him without question.  Clint had never wanted anything from her, had never asked anything of her but for her to be herself.  He challenged her, encouraged her, supported her, and had been absolutely instrumental to her becoming the person she was now, the person she was always meant to be.  She had been so blind, so stupid, so afraid, and now it just seemed so simple.  Brushing her thumb over his cheek, then his lips, she closed the distance between them and kissed him softly.  

For a brief second Clint was surprised but he recovered quickly and kissed her back.  Her lips were softer than he ever had imagined - and he had imagined this moment a lot - and he could still taste chocolate on her tongue from lunch earlier.

It was surreal, a dream, and when he finally broke away to look at her there was obvious disbelief in his expression.  He wanted this, he wanted to be with her, wanted to be more than friends, but he had to be sure that this wasn’t about owing him anything, about trying to be who _he_ wanted her to be.  He wanted this, but he had to know that she truly did too.

“Tasha?” his voice was barely a whisper when he said her name, but it carried the weight of his insecurities with it.  

Natasha smiled, brushing her hand back through his short, spiky hair.  “You said you wanted me to be happy,” she said, waiting for Clint to give a small nod in reply.  “Well, what if I’m happiest when I’m with you?”

She watched him contemplate her words, turn over all the things they could mean and compare them to what he knew about her. In the end he had to finally give up his reservations and accept what was right in front of him: the honest truth that she liked him and wanted to be with him too.  A smile slowly stretched across his face.  “Then I might have to question your mental state,” he said, chuckling when she gave his hair a little tug and feigned a glare.  

“Hey, no insulting my boyfriend,” she said, and Clint felt his heart skip.  

“Boyfriend?” he repeated, rolling the word over on his tongue and giving her a hopeful look.  “Is that what I am now?”

“If you want to be,” Natasha replied, drawing her bottom lip in between her teeth, and raising her eyebrows at him in a look that sent his pulse rushing.

“Oh yeah, I want to be,” he said, bringing one hand up to cup the back of her head.  “I really, really want to be.”

Each word became quieter as he leaned in, and he barely whispered the last word before his lips were once again otherwise engaged.  This time the kiss wasn’t so sweet and tentative; it was deeper, longer, more exploratory, and filled with all the bottled up emotions they had both been suppressing for months, whether they’d realised it or not.  

Any lingering doubts were quickly banished in what was as close to a  perfect moment as either of them had ever experienced.

 


	9. Part 8

The silence was deafening and it wasn’t long before Tony couldn’t handle it anymore.

“It’s not like we’re friends or anything,” he said, looking back and forth between Steve and Pepper.  The looks he received in return were far from sympathetic and understanding.  “I figured he just got into a fight.  That’s why you and Thor are here, right?” he addressed Steve.  “I thought it was a jock thing or something.”

“Not everyone who is into athletics is a violent brute,” Steve replied, his voice full of distaste.  He didn’t appreciate the insinuation, nor the assumption that his detention was because he had beat someone up.

“And before you even suggest it , Clint is into archery and gymnastics, not football or wrestling or whatever, so don’t even think about trying to claim steroids,” Pepper piped up.  

“So what, I’m supposed to know that?” Tony answered defensively.  “I’m not trying to be everyone’s best friend to win votes, so I’m sorry if I don’t keep track of every extracurricular activity every student at this school does.”

Steve was about to jump in again when Pepper cut him off.  “Steve, why don’t you go check on Bruce and Thor, make sure they’re not cornered somewhere?”  He thought to protest, clearly not wanting to leave her alone to deal with Tony on her own, but her look silenced him.  He knew that look, and that tone of voice.  They were very much the same as his mother’s _‘go do this while I_ ** _talk_** _to your father’_ ones.

“I won’t be long,” he replied, and after giving Tony a warning look he cautiously crept out into the hallway.  Silence reigned again in the wake of his departure, and once again it was Tony who finally broke.

“What?”  His voice was loud and exasperated but Pepper was unfazed. 

“I thought you might have something to say to me now that we’re alone,” she said, her tone even and betraying no emotion.

“Oh, is _that_ what this is about?” he said, grinning suddenly.  “All this anger is just a show, huh? If you just wanted to get me alone so you could have your way with me-“

The change was instant.

“You are the most selfish, self-centred, egotistical person I have ever met,” she fumed, her face going red and her eyes like daggers.  “I don’t care what your name is or who your father is, the world does not revolve around you, Tony Stark, and expecting everyone to give you special treatment just because-“

“Hey, Strawberry Shortcake, I never said anything about special-“

“And what is with the nicknames?” Pepper continued, unfazed.  “Is it all part of your ‘charm’ or can you just not be bothered to learn anyone’s actual names?”

“Ha! I _do_ know your name!  In fact, I know a lot about you,” Tony said with smug satisfaction.  “Your name is Virginia Potts, but everyone calls you Pepper; your birthday is January 5 th ; you’re president of the-“

“And how much of this information do you know only because you hacked into my student records?” she cut in, raising her eyebrows at him in mocking question.

Tony was silent.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know it was you, or did you just not care?” she asked, the first hint of hurt creeping into her voice.  She had been doing so well keeping it at bay, focusing on her anger which, honestly, Tony made very easy.  

“So they gave you one day’s detention.  It’s no big-“

“No big deal?” she scoffed.  “You really don’t get it, do you?  They think I was in on your scheme.  You made it look like I altered the grades of the top students, lowering everyone else and raising my own just enough to come out on top.  This is going to go on my permanent record, it’s serious.  Things like this make no difference to you because your father can buy you into any college you want, but I need scholarships.  Why do you think I’m involved in everything?  It all makes my applications look better and makes me a desirable addition to any student body, but if they think I cheated to get the grades…”

Her voice trailed off, and the look of worry and fear on her face caused Tony to avert his eyes.  No, he hadn’t got it, not before this.  He had been angry and jealous that his father had paid so much attention to Pepper and had encouraged her so much while she had been working for him over the summer and Tony had wanted revenge.  He hadn’t really considered the consequences and the fact that this could not just damage Pepper’s reputation for a few weeks but could ultimately affect her future.  

For a long time they said nothing.  Tony stewed over her words, over his guilt, over how he could make this right and Pepper let him, convinced that she had finally gotten through to him.  After a long moment he finally looked up at her again.  “Pepper, I…” he started to say when Steve, Thor and Bruce suddenly burst back into the room.  

“Fury’s on his way!”  Bruce announced, his bespectacled eyes going wide when he looked around to find only two occupants in the room.  “Where are Clint and Natasha?”

“They’re not back yet,” Pepper replied, pushing aside her emotions to focus on the task at hand.  

“I’ll go find them,” he offered but Thor gave him a grave look.

“There is no time.  He will be here before you return,” he said.   Steve looked ready to tell Bruce to go anyway, but a solution presented itself from the last person anyone expected.

“Bruce, go find them.  I’ll head Fury off,” Tony said, his voice resolute.  Rising from his chair he was already on his way to the door amidst the confusion and protests.  

“You’re going to let Fury catch you,” Steve stated when realisation dawned.  

“Well, I couldn’t remember the last selfless thing I did,” Tony said, meeting Pepper’s eyes when he recalled her words.  She looked back at him in confusion, her lips slightly parted as if to protest or question but unable to find the words.  “So here it is.”  Pushing through the three at the door, he grabbed Bruce’s arm on the way by.  “Go find them, the rest of you wait here.  If I do this and you’re still stupid enough to get yourselves caught I will make our next detention together even more miserable.”

With one last look back at Pepper Tony headed quickly down the hall that Bruce indicated.  


	10. Part 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the last big chapter before the epilogue! Hope y'all enjoy!

Bruce ran quickly down the hall, stopping at each door and peering in until he caught sight of Natasha’s telltale shock of red hair.He was already talking even as he pushed the door in, his voice an urgent whisper.“Fury’s on his way…” he started but the words trailed off when Clint suddenly appeared in front of Natasha.The way she was sitting on the desk, her back to the door, he had been blocked from Bruce’s view, but now that he could see them both, and the general disarray of their hair and clothing, it didn’t take long to realise that he had just interrupted a rather heavy make out session.  

“Sorry, I…” he stopped to clear his throat.  Removing his glasses he focused on cleaning them before he even tried to talk again.  “Fury is on his way back to the library.  We have to go quickly.”

Clint looked up at Natasha, his expression somewhere between annoyed at being interrupted and just plain stupidly happy about _what_ had been interrupted.  “To be continued?” he asked, grinning at her.

“It better be,” she replied, returning his grin as she hopped down off the desk.  Bruce had replaced his glasses and was already heading back out the door, so the pair followed him, rushing back to the library and relieved to find that they weren’t too late.  Something was missing, though.

“Where’s Stark?” Clint asked the other three who were already seated.  

“He went to stall Fury so you guys could get back,” Pepper replied, her tone making it clear that she was having a hard time believing the words herself.  Looking up at Clint and Natasha, she raised her eyebrows as she took in their appearance.  “You have a little something…” she said, pointing to her lips.  The pair looked at each other and laughed; in the lighted library there were obvious smudges of Natasha’s red lipstick around both their mouths.  Bruce slunk back to his seat, looking embarrassed, and Natasha pulled Clint back to their table, catching Steve’s eye as she passed.  He smiled and gave her a nod which she returned with a wink before setting about trying to clean up enough that Fury wouldn’t notice.  They had about five minutes, more than any of them had expected, before the principal finally returned with Tony in tow.

“I can’t say I’m not disappointed,” he said when he found the rest of them sitting innocently at their tables.  “But if the worst the rest of you do today is cover for this punk then I guess I can let you off with a warning.”

Steve looked ready to protest, his sense of nobility making it very difficult for him to let Tony take the fall for all of them, even if most of it had been his fault, but Tony silenced him with a look.  Steve got it: this was Tony’s chance at redemption, to prove that he wasn’t completely selfish, that he could do something for others that wouldn’t benefit him.  Steve nodded solemnly.  

“Mr. Stark here is a bad influence, so he’s going to finish off the rest of his detention elsewhere.  The rest of you better get working on those essays.  The clock is ticking.”

Fury and Tony left the others alone and walked back down the hallway until they reached a solid door which Fury unlocked and held open after flipping on the light.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Tony said, looking around the small janitor’s closet.  “This has to count as some form of child cruelty.”

“Well, it’s either this or you spend the rest of the day in my office with me,” Fury replied.

Tony looked at Fury then at the closet and back again.  “Actually, it’s not really that bad.  A nice comfy bucket to sit on; that clean, lemon fresh scent.  I think this will do nicely.”

“I thought you’d say that.”  Standing aside so Tony could enter, Fury paused in the doorway, regarding the kid a moment longer.  “The phones?”

“Come on, even you have to admit that was pretty good,” Tony said, grinning.  Fury just shook his head, handed Tony some paper and a pen, and walked out, locking the door behind him. 

What felt like hours passed, though in reality it was only about fifteen minutes, but Tony was so bored he was ready to start mixing cleaning chemicals to see if he could come up with some sort of scientific breakthrough.  Instead he pulled out his cell.

_I’m sorry I got you in trouble. I’ll fix it_ _,_ he texted Pepper, hesitating only a moment before hitting send. Apologies weren’t his forté, but if anyone deserved one it was her.  At least he could do it through text.

_Is Fury still with you?_ the reply asked and he looked at it in confusion for a moment before writing back.

_No, he locked me up and went back to his office._ Honestly, would he be risking a text if Fury was still there?  Though maybe he should have said yes so she thought the apology was so important to him that it was worth the risk.  Or maybe he should have said yes for other reasons, because about two seconds later Tony’s phone vibrated. Looking down at it he pursed his lips; the screen cheerfully proclaimed an incoming call from Pepper Potts.

“Miss me already?” he said by way of greeting when he answered.

“I want to hear you say it,” was Pepper’s blunt, no-nonsense reply.

Tony sputtered a moment, taken off guard and not entirely sure what she was referring to.  “What?” 

“The thing you texted me,” she clarified, not missing a beat.  “I want to hear you actually say the words.”

Oh, _that_.  “Come on, Pepper.  Fury locked me in a cramped, smelly closet. Isn’t that punishment enough?” Tony tried to talk his way out of it, but sounding pathetic wasn’t enough when he couldn’t pull the puppy dog look to go with it, not that it would have made a difference in this case.

“No,” Pepper said, a little too cheerily for his liking.  “Say it.”

He sighed heavily, sounding ten shades of put upon.  “Okay, fine.  I’m sorry,” he said, his tone more annoyed than repentant.  

“Good,” she replied, and for a brief moment Tony thought he was off the hook.  A very brief moment.  “Now say it like you mean it.” 

“This is ridic-“

“Say it like you _mean_ it.”  She wasn’t sounding so cheery now.

“Of course I mean it,” he said, as if it was totally obvious, but no trick was going to appease her or throw her off course.

“Then _say_ it that way!”  

“Christ, alright, I’m sorry!” Tony burst out, and when the words left his lips he was surprised to find how much he meant it, and also that it… it felt kind of good to say it.  No point stopping there, might as well let it all out.  “I’m sorry I was jealous, okay?  I’m sorry I messed with the records and made you look guilty.  I’m going to fix it so everyone knows it wasn’t you, and that no college even has to know about it.  It will be like nothing ever happened.  Okay?”  He was slightly breathless by the time he finished, which was good because he found that he was holding his breath while waiting for her reply.

“Okay.”  That was it.  No thank you, no _I accept your apology_ , just a simple okay.  Well, almost.  “Now is there anything else you want to say?  Maybe not just to me?”

She was relentless, never backing off, never giving him a break.  He kind of liked it, actually.  “Can you just tell everyone else I’m sorry too?” he asked, sounding more sincere than she had ever heard him sound.  “Especially Clint.  I shouldn’t have said what I did.  I didn’t know...” Tony could almost feel her preparing to protest that that was no excuse and pressed on quickly, “but I still shouldn’t have said it.”

“Lucky for you I’m in a forgiving mood,” a voice that was distinctly _not_ Pepper’s replied.  

“Clint?” Tony asked, surprised.

“Oh, did I forget to mention you’re on speaker phone?” Pepper said as sweetly as possible and then a flurry of laughter filled her side of the line.  

Sighing, Tony shook his head and rubbed his brow, but there was a slight smile on his face.  “Ha, ha.  Alright, you got me.  You better enjoy it, it won’t happen again.”

“Oh, we are.  Very much,” the smile in her voice was evident, and another round of chuckling followed before fading into silence.  

“We don’t have a lot of time left to finish these essays,” Steve pointed out, breaking the quiet that had fallen over them.

“I think you mean _start_ them,” Clint said, earning a bit more laughter.  They all knew that time was drawing to an end, though, and that if they didn’t finish their essays by the time Fury dismissed them for the day they would likely all be back here again next Saturday, and next week the assignment might be even worse.

“Does _anyone_ have anything written?” Tony asked, staring at his own blank piece of paper.

“Actually, I was thinking that maybe we could, um, write something together?” Bruce piped up, sounding a little nervous even suggesting it, but not quite as shy as he had been at the start of the day.  “We’re all here for our own reasons, whether unfounded or not, but do you really think Fury cares if we feel bad about them?”  His voice grew strength as he spoke.  “Let’s write one.  One about all of us, about this whole system, and about how we’re treated because of how stereotypes paint us.  One essay from all of us.  Together.”

The group looked around at each other, considering the suggestion, and it was Clint who finally broke the silence.  “So... if we do it this way, I might not have to actually write a single word?  I like it.  Solid plan.”  He was rewarded with a gentle elbow to the ribs by Natasha, but he just grinned at her until she smiled back and shook her head.

“I’ll write it, but I’ll need everyone’s input,” Bruce offered, and everyone agreed.

“First, there’s one more thing we have to get out of the way,” Tony said.  “I’m sure everyone knows by now why _I’m_ in here, and Pepper and Clint, but what about the rest of you?  Share and share alike.  It’s only fair.”

The others were reluctant to reply, but hearing him sigh heavily on the other end of the phone Thor nodded solemnly.  “He is right.  If we are to work together on this we should all be honest as to why we are here.”

“It _would_ make it easier to write about...” Bruce agreed, albeit a bit reluctantly.  

Since Thor had been the first to accept, he spoke first.  “My brother was being bullied, and I stepped in to protect him, but I may have been a bit... enthusiastic with that protection.”

“A _bit_ enthusiastic?” Tony scoffed.

“Tony...” Pepper warned.

“Sorry, sorry,” he quickly apologised.  “About what I said in the cafeteria too.”  Hey, there was no point half-assing it now.

“Thank you,” Thor replied, clearly appreciative, but there was still a shadow hanging over him that would not fade so easily.  Of course he didn’t mention that he wasn’t entirely sure anymore that Tony had been wrong about how his brother may have set the whole thing up; he didn’t like to even think about it, and now was not the time to try to face that possibility.

Steve went next.  “I was covering for someone else.”  He paused a moment but nobody seemed surprised.  “One more infraction and he’s out, so I took the fall.”  He didn’t go into details, didn’t even specify if this person would be out of school, or off a team; the less details the less chance that anyone could figure out the identity.

Nobody asked for more.

For a long moment silence reigned while Natasha and Bruce looked at each other before she gave an almost imperceptible nod.  “I’m here because I was accused of freeing all the animals in the biology lab.”

“So that _was_ you,” Tony laughed, but nobody that could see her joined in.

“I said I was _accused_ of doing it,” she replied pointedly.

“So you didn’t do it then?” he asked, sounding increasingly confused.  She merely smiled enigmatically and shrugged, which of course he couldn’t see, but he read into the silence anyhow.  “Okay, okay, fine, you keep your secrets.  I guess that leaves just one.”

Bruce looked around at the expectant and encouraging faces before dropping his gaze to the pen in his hand.  Swallowing hard, he cleared his throat and tried to make his voice work.  He wasn’t used to anyone paying him any attention, let alone a group of people actually caring about what he had to say, and he wasn’t sure how to handle the attention.  

“I didn’t blow up the lab like people think,” he said.  Nobody seemed surprised by this, clearly chalking it up to the rumour mill running rampant.  Who could suspect mild mannered Bruce Banner of such a thing?  “I, um... I sort of destroyed a bunch of lab equipment,” he clarified.  

Nobody laughed, nobody gasped, and when Clint laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, Bruce looked up to see some surprise on the faces looking back at him, but mostly he saw understanding.  “I need to maintain my honours level marks, but this last project, my lab partner... he wouldn’t do anything, he just kept messing it all up and nothing was working, and I just got so... so _angry_...”

It was definitely not what any of them expected.  They thought it all must have been false, though believing that he _had_ blown up the lab would have been easier because it could have been accidental.  To hear that he had intentionally destroyed property... it was a little harder to reconcile, but it somehow made him more relatable too.  Clint was the first to recover.  “It’s a lot of pressure, bro,” he said, giving Bruce’s shoulder a light squeeze.  

“Some people just take advantage of others.  They don’t care, and don’t understand why it matters so much to other people,” Pepper added, smiling softly at him.  If anyone understood the pressures of high grades it was her.

“Look, I’ve been told I don’t work well with others, and I know it doesn’t really help with this project, but if you want a new lab partner for the rest of the semester...”  It was a rare selfless offer from Tony Stark and left the room speechless for a moment before Bruce answered.

“Thanks, Tony.”  There was really nothing more to say.

“Right, so now that that’s all out of the way, how about we get this essay written so Fury doesn’t try to keep us all night?” Tony cut the moment short.  “Not that a sleepover wouldn’t be all kinds of interesting, but this closet is boring and my battery is dying.”

Finally, with very little left of their detention, they really set their minds to their task and started writing.


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have it, the final part complete with one last wonderful piece of art by MusicalLuna! Many of you have left some comments for here in this fic, but if you would be so kind as to head on over to her [tumblr](http://musicalluna.tumblr.com/tagged/breakfast-club) or her shiny new [Ao3 post](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1664201) and tell her how much you love her drawings that would be awesome! More acknowledgements at the end of the chapter.

At five minutes to four Fury returned to the library with a silent Tony trailing behind him.Everyone else was sitting quietly in their seats, and a stack of papers sat on the centre table, face down.Tony added his to the pile.

“Alright, you can all go, and we better not be doing this again next week,” Fury said, grabbing the stack of papers and returning to his seat at the front of the room while everyone collected their stuff and filed out.  Only when they were all gone did he turn the stack over and start to read.

_At the beginning of the day you told us to think about why we ‘deserve’ detention, what we did and why we did it, and we know you’re expecting seven essays on how sorry we are, how bad we feel, and how we’ll never do anything like it ever again, but that’s the problem we faced writing this: do we tell you what you want to hear, or do we tell you the truth?_

_In the end we went for honesty, and we decided on one essay between us, because while some of us have no regrets that doesn’t mean we haven’t learned anything today._

His brow furrowing, Fury quickly flipped through the other pages to find them filled with the same handwriting, neat but clearly restrained. His eye twitched but he continued to read.

_Some of us are truly sorry for what we did; our actions were wrong, property was destroyed and in one case someone who was truly innocent was hurt in the process.   Some of us are not sorry, as we acted to protect others too weak to protect themselves, and would do it again in a heartbeat.  Some of us are being punished for having strong beliefs, though perhaps the method of expression for those beliefs needs a little work, and some of us are wrongly accused and have nothing to repent for.  I’m sure you can draw your own conclusion as to who fits which category._

When the seven students stepped outside they were met with warm sunshine, fresh air, and several cars waiting for them, but for a moment all of them lingered on the steps.  Pepper was the first to move, heading toward her parent’s car, but she only made a few steps before Tony caught up to her.  He apologised again, swore to make it right, and asked her to come by the lab sometime, claiming no funny business.  She answered with a coy ‘maybe’ before getting in the car.

Watching her drive off Tony shook his head, a crooked smile on his face, before jumping into his convertible.  Passing Bruce on foot on the way out of the lot, he stopped and offered a drive, not taking no for an answer.

_In the end, does it really matter?  Do you really care if we feel bad or not?  Do you care about the home lives that drive us here, about the extenuating circumstances that make us act as we do?  Does anyone really care ‘why’, or if the accusations are even true, so long as it never happens again?  We’re all numbers.  Every year the faces and names change, but nothing else does.  There will always be nerds and misfits, class presidents and football stars, but we are more than those labels and more than our actions._

Thor was a bit more affectionate, offering hugs to all who remained, but it was impossible to miss the sadness behind his eyes when he noted that his brother had accompanied his father to get him, and the smug smirk on the younger’s face.  

_So are we sorry that we ended up in detention on a beautiful Saturday?  In the beginning, yes, but not anymore.  Today we got to know each other. We got to see how others live, got to understand that we’re not alone.  Outcasts feel the popular crowd has it so easy, but there are pressures that go along with that social status.  Carefree personas are sometimes skin deep; the quiet ones are sometimes quiet to hide their rage.  Parents and teachers put pressure on us to get into good colleges, society puts pressure on us to look and act a certain way, and you put pressure on us to conform to your rules.  Rules are good, rules are necessary, but we can’t all be put in the same box with the same wrapping and the same labels._

Only three of them remained, and when Steve looked at the happy couple he couldn’t help but smile.  He shook Clint’s hand, but when he offered the same to Natasha she stepped forward to kiss his cheek briefly instead.  

Leaving him to unlock his bicycle and make his own way, Natasha wound her arm around Clint’s waist and pulled him to her side.  He didn’t have to go home yet if he didn’t want to; she made the offer quietly, understandingly, and he gladly accepted.  Slinging his arm around her shoulder they walked off together and soon silence reigned.

_You wanted seven hundred words, but here’s five hundred instead, one hundred for each of us who is actually meant to be here, whether we truly deserve to be or not._

On the very last page, the one on the bottom of the stack, were a few last words scrawled in a different handwriting.

_Just think of it this way: do you really want to spend any more of your day with us?  We figured you would appreciate the brevity.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  And you might want to get that eye of yours checked out, it’s a bit worrying._

Closing his eyes, Fury massaged his brow and shook his head, but there was a faint smile on his lips as he left for the day.  

All his years as principal and sometimes the students still managed to surprise him, and not always in a bad way.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it, folks! My longest fic, my first big bang and my first fic with fanart! Did y'all read that last part as a voiceover with the cut scenes, a la the actual Breakfast Club? :D
> 
> Once again I would like to thank Shen, my amazing beta; Stormy and Sam, for their endless encouragement and support; Lucy for the incredible art; and every one of you who took the time to read, review and share this story. You are all awesome!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Not Your Typical Saturday Illustrations](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1664201) by [MusicalLuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicalLuna/pseuds/MusicalLuna)




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